Alex officially joined the Research and Innovation team in January 2025.

This will involve curating a foundational framework for sustainable growth, fostering college and community benefit through applied research, partnerships, and innovation. Reporting to the Director, R&I, Alex collaborates with internal and external stakeholders to drive project success, ensuring alignment with NC’s strategic goals.

Alexandra worked for many years as a program and recreation manager in retirement homes, where she gained a passion for working with older adults. She started working at Niagara College in 2019 on a footcare assessment project to provide care to Niagara’s unhoused population, utilizing student placements.

Her most recent projects with NC include a one-year study to understand the age-friendly needs of current and potential students, ages 50+, who are or wish to attend the college, and how our post-secondary institution can be more age-friendly. Concurrently, she’s wrapping up her term with NC’s Mental Health Framework following the Mental Health Commission of Canada National Standards to inform best practices for the mental health of college students and employees. For this project, she hosted focus groups and will be hosting the second annual mental health retreat for students, all funded by Bell Let’s Talk.

Alexandra also teaches at Sheridan College in the Social Service Worker – Gerontology program. She has experience as a certified personal trainer and aqua fitness instructor teaching fitness to older adults and is an active volunteer with the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Barrie Community Hub, assisting with community fundraising events.

Alexandra is a graduate of the University of Guelph-Humber with an undergraduate degree in Kinesiology, and a diploma in Fitness and Health Promotion. In addition, she has a master’s in Health and Aging from Western University. She’s currently an Aging and Health PhD candidate at Queen’s University (online) where her dissertation work seeks to understand assistive technology use by persons aging with MS.